


These changes ain't changin' me

by AbbySomething



Series: Maybe This Will Be My Year [5]
Category: Samurai Jack (Cartoon)
Genre: Aku is a bastard is there a tag for that, Brief depiction of violence, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Japanese Mythology - Freeform, Kitsune, Loki is a massive troll but then again when is he not, Minor Character Death, Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses and Mythologies, not everything is as it seems huehue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 16:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7691179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbySomething/pseuds/AbbySomething
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, in order to see the future, you need to visit the past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These changes ain't changin' me

“It is a big pile of rocks.”

Jack turned back to glare at Aku, who ignored him in favor of continuing to stare at the ruins of the city around them.

“It is _now_ ,” Jack sighed, shaking his head, “But this was once Delphi, city of the Oracle and the Temple of Apollo!”

’ _Ruins now, because of you._ ’ Jack thought, but knew it went without saying.

“I am more than aware of what this place once was, samurai,” Aku tugged his coat closer in, “But as of the past few eons, it has been and continues to be a big pile of rocks.”

Jack rolled his eyes, and trekked forward towards the pillars marking where the temple once stood.

Aku started to follow, but his eyes caught a flash of red, and he swiveled his head around to try and catch it. Whatever it had been was gone by the time he turned, but he suddenly had the feeling that he was being watched.

He looked around himself once again, then followed Jack up.

“I did not get a chance to visit this city before—” Jack paused, then tried again, “It is still beautiful, however, even now.”

He was, of course, talking about what he could determine of the structures, and the way the landscape had overtaken most of it. Green climbing vines covered most of the rocks, but somebody (or some people) in the little town below had obviously been recently attempting to renovate the area: Jack noticed that there were fresh cuts to some of the plants, revealing markings and signs of the people who once lived here.

“Hm, yes,” Aku said distantly, “I recall that I once had plans to turn this location into a tourist opportunity, but deemed it too unworthy of valuable resources and time.”

Jack chose to not pursue that thought, and instead wove his way through the overgrown path that had once been streets. He could see the theatre carving out of the side of the hill, and he knew that from there would most likely be the greatest view, although he wished to see the rest with his own eyes.

They made their way up to a row of what was left of rows of columns, and Jack stepped inside carefully, trying to see if there were any remnants of what had once been the site of not only this temple, but Pythia herself.

Suddenly, a curious idea struck him, and he turned to his traveling companion.

“You knew about the Titans,” Jack remarked, “Did you ever, um, well, meet them?”

“Meet them?” Aku questioned back, “No, samurai fool, the Titans existed even before me. I think you are familiar with the idea of ‘doing your research?’”

Jack nodded, a bit distantly. His thoughts had already moved on to his next point.

“It is a good thing your research and plans do not always appear to be working in your direct favor,” Jack commented, a bit of arrogance in his tone, then he turned towards the theatre and continued walking.

“Hey!” Aku cried out after him, quickly setting off again himself, “My plans have held out many times that you did not see! You are simply poor at going along with them!”

* * *

 

Jack sat on the top steps of the theatre, idly nibbling on an apple he had picked up in the market.

They had arrived relatively later on in the day than he’d hoped, but the sun still had a ways to set. It was a beautiful sight from up here, though: the dark, harsh shadows contrasting with the yellow-orange light cast upon the landscape. If they were to come here during summer, Jack suspected, the clouds and closeness of the sun would have made it even more wonderful.

After having explored as much of the ancient city as he’d liked, Jack had settled upon witnessing the sunset from the best viewpoint in the land, and he was quite glad he had done so. He would be sure to store this memory alongside some of the happier ones he would take home with him. It almost brought up the memory of what he and Aku had argued about not too long ago, but he pushed it back with the decision that that issue had been resolved.

Speaking of which, his traveling companion seemed to be preoccupied with continuously scanning the area, searching for something.

Almost like reading his thoughts, Aku spoke, “Do you not have that…eerie feeling? As if we are being watched?”

“No,” Jack answered simply. He would have been aware of it, he was sure.

Aku turned and gave Jack a questioning look, apparently surprised by that answer.

Just then, in the corner of his vision, Aku saw another flash of color, and he was able to spin himself quickly enough to see a long red robe trailing behind a distant figure.

“You!” he shouted, beginning to give chase and sparking a cry of surprise from Jack, “Who are you?”

He failed to notice the sudden fog roll in behind him, although Jack was quickly separated from him in it.

After a few minutes of weaving his way through a maze of rocks and ruins, he came to a large clearing, which he recognized as the temple of Apollo. Something was off this time, however; everything seemed to grow darker, and the fog rolled to a stop just outside the remains of the pillars.

The figure in red stood in the center; now revealed to be a middle-aged woman with dark, braided hair tumbling to below her breasts. Under the red cloth she wore a white dress that covered her modestly and seemed to be moving slightly in a wind that didn’t reach him. A cauldron on a tripod supported her, which emitted a green mist.

“Pythia!” he cried out, genuinely surprised.

“So you’ve noticed,” she drawled, her voice dripping with venom, “Perhaps you could be an Oracle with those observational skills.”

Aku got the notion that somehow, she was gloating.

“Why did you follow me? What are you plotting?” Aku snapped, drawing closer.

She smiled, but it had all the pleasantness of a hungry crocodile.

“You are the one known as Aku, are you not? Or shall I say, _previously_ the all-mighty Aku?”

Aku’s mood soured further. This impudent wretch had the nerve to—

But he also knew who he was in the company of, and he wanted answers.

He swallowed back his anger, and ground out: “I am. Will you answer my questions now, oh _Oracle?_ ”

“Perhaps,” she chuckled, “It will depend on what you ask, however, unlike what you asked of me a few moments prior. Oh, and our time is limited. I have more important matters to attend to. Ask your questions now.”

Aku made an unintelligible series of growling noises, quite certain that she was _taunting_ him simply because she _could_ now, but managed to get his thoughts back in order.

“Why was this curse placed upon me, and how do I break it?” Those were the biggest ones, and he could settle for their solutions at the moment. Once he broke the curse, he would find out who placed it upon him and decimate them.

A smirk crossed her lips, and she let her head fall so her chin rested on her chest. It then shot up and her eyes went wide, only to roll back into her head, and her hair flew wildly about her. Her mouth fell open, and an ancient, cracked voice echoed out:

 

 _“So much harm caused by those clawed hands_ ,

_Thus, we have joined forces to say:_

_Until true pain the evil understands,_

_Confined to this form you will stay.”_

 

With that said, the mouth closed, and the fog quickly overwhelmed Aku’s sight. A high cackle rang out, and within a few seconds the temple had cleared, leaving Aku alone once more.

Jack came running up from behind him, demanding “What was that? Why did you come back here?”

Aku rotated himself towards Jack, and shot him a dark look before brushing past him and back down the hill towards modern Delphi.

Jack called after him, and then caught up, rounding him to stand in front of Aku again.

“Enough!” he said, “What is this? What has happened?”

“Oh, like you do not know!” Aku snapped, “It is merely that, as it turns out, I am trapped in this _pathetic_ , _weak_ form due to some ‘anger’ I have caused to multiple entities, and I do not understand how I will change back!”

He turned away, refusing to face Jack with whatever his emotions were displaying on him right then.

“You saw the Oracle,” Jack concluded, “And she told you why this happened? Did she tell you anything on how you will change back?”

Jack was quickly struck with the memory that he shouldn’t care about Aku turning back, and shouldn’t be helping him do so. But if Jack figured out what could turn Aku _back_ , then that meant he could prevent it.

“I do not know,” Aku said in a wheeze, trying to get his emotions under control, “She spoke of, of something about ‘true pain must be understood;’ I do not know!”

“Calm down,” Jack walked around so he knew Aku could see him again, and see that he was not laughing or scowling at his predicament, “You will think more clearly if you can calm yourself. Take a deep breath, and then let it out.”

He motioned for Aku to watch him, then did the technique himself. Aku closed his eyes, imitating it, and steadily began to collect himself.

“Now, what _exactly_ did the Oracle say? Prophecies can be tricky things,” Jack started, but Aku interrupted him.

“Yes, I am more than aware,” Aku opened his eyes, and then furrowed them in concentration, “Pythia said…she said ’So much harm caused by those clawed hands, Thus they, eh, ‘we’ have joined forces to say…Until true pain the evil understands, Confined to this form I will stay.”

He rushed the last part once it came back, but Jack got the idea.

‘ _True pain?_ ’ Jack thought, puzzled, ‘ _What could she be referring to? Physical pain, brought about by my sword, or something deeper?_ ’

It would be safe to assume she meant something emotional or metaphysical, but nothing could be ruled out at this point. It was just vague enough that neither of them really had a clue on what she could mean.

“Very well,” Jack started again, “We now know why this curse was placed upon you, and some idea of where to start looking to break it. Come; it has been a busy day. Let us go back down and settle in for the night.”

“Wait,” Aku suddenly broke in, “You…you said ‘we?’ You wish to…break this curse upon me as well?”

Something very weak felt like it was overwhelming Aku’s emotions, and he swallowed hard as Jack looked startled upon him.

“Well, it is just,” Jack stammered, focusing his attention away, “That is to say, um. Um. Let us go.”

He suddenly broke away, clambering back down and trying to ignore the rush of guilt that had started.

He did not _want_ to help Aku break this, it just…came out wrong. He wanted to learn what the cursebreaker was, and then stop Aku from reaching it. He would have to watch his wording next time on the matter, lest he be caught in another corner.

Aku, meanwhile, wasn’t sure what had just happened. The samurai had not answered with an affirmation, but he had not denied it either. Perhaps…perhaps things were changing between them.

Or not, he mused begrudgingly as he started to follow Jack. Time, as always, would tell between them.

* * *

 

Far, far away, Loki cackled hysterically as Apollo and Set looked on at the tiny mirrored images of the mortals.

“Oh, come _on_ gentlemen, this is starting to be a fantastic show!” Loki steadied himself, “Just think of the all the mishaps and misery those two will continue to cause each other!”

“We did not place that curse upon Aku simply for amusement,” Apollo stated, turning away and glowering at the horned god, “We _all_ agreed that what he had been planning to do was going to, as the humans say, ‘screw everything up.’”

Set snorted through his long nose, but a smirk had crossed his features.

“I am placing three thousand silver pieces on the sword-bearer killing him before he figures it out.”

Apollo rotated quickly, looking upon Set with shock, before he quirked a brow, settling a bit.

After a moment, he said firmly, “Four thousand on Aku tricking his way out of it.”

Loki continued to laugh.

* * *

 

_Five months ago_

The kitsune tugged at his disguised form’s collar for the hundredth time in the hour, still discomforted by the amount of sweat this body was generating. It couldn’t be helped; he was nervous. He was _literally_ in enemy territory, after all. He’d only been here a few days and he still worried that Aku would surely see through him.

“Hmmm,” Aku rumbled, looking over the blueprints for the newest upgrade to the beetledrones, “Yes, yes, these will do nicely. Do it immediately.”

The thin, white-haired scientist cried out as Aku flicked him in the head, cackling as the man flew back, papers going everywhere, but he only whimpered before gathering them quickly and departing without a word.

“Secretary! Bring in the next ones.” Aku barked at the fox demon, who spun immediately and gestured to the group outside the entrance to Aku’s midchamber. They carried with them a white, circular model of something technological, and while their eyes darted around, they strode in confidence.

Aku actually grinned as they planted the device on the ground, murmuring to themselves as they shuffled several blocks of paper between them.

“Excellent! You are just the ones I was looking forward to meeting!” The Master of Darkness leaned down, turning his head to inspect the model from several angles, eyes widening, “Is this what it will look like?”

A shorter alien with scaled yellow skin and tufts of purple hair spoke for them, clearing his throat.

“Yes, Master Aku. The design is completed, all in accordance with our calculations. This shape and the way the wires will be configured will be most beneficial—”

Aku waved his hand dismissively, straightening with that terrible sound of wood cracking.

“The almighty Aku does not care for your babble! I only wish to know if it will do as I tasked you.”

“Indeed it will! Time travel will be an easy and marketable new method of transportation with this device, and we do not doubt it will be all the rage—”

“Yes!” Aku interrupted again, baring blood-encrusted fangs, “If that is true, did you bring all the blueprints?”

The alien looked surprised, but glanced between his compatriots, all straightening their papers.

“Er, yes, just as you requested! But understand we still need to do calculations on possible abnormalities, such as cellphones, laptops, or even…well…”

 **“Robots?”** Aku finished in a thunderous growl, eyes glinting.

“Theoretically, yes, but we are close to solving that, thanks to the calculations we’ve been doing! Give us another month, Master Aku, and we guarantee we will have perfected it to your demands!”

Aku stroked his beard idly, eyes distant as he looked over the whole group. Those eyes hardened abruptly, but the grin that spread across his face was downright malicious.

“I am very happy with these results, and I look forward to seeing them finished soon. But I cannot trust news of this device’s creation to anyone outside of my direct employment and supervision.”

Tendrils of darkness shot out from the sides of the room, sharpening to a point and stabbing through the heads of all the members of the group. They didn’t even have time to scream.

The fox had turned his head, swallowing thickly. It was sick, the way this demon ran this poor world.

The bodies were dragged from the now-loose reams of paper that had fallen to the floor, droplets of blood still falling over them despite the precision of the strikes.

“Secretary!” Aku’s shout brought the kitsune out of his own mind, “Gather the papers and deliver them to the scientists in sector B7.”

The kitsune darted forward, pushing all the papers together into a large pile, then gathered all of them in his arms. Curiosity and a sense of dread overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t stop the words from forming in his mouth and escaping.

“Almighty Aku, do you truly plan to commercialize time travel? What of the…your problem?”

Aku threw back his head and laughed, the sound rattling the kitsune’s bones.

“Another brilliant plan all but Aku fail to see the implications of! You need not worry about the lies I spun for this creation. Aku has a much greater plan for this device.”

The kitsune looked up at the demon, confused, but his eyes went wide as everything came together.

_Robots. Time travel._

Aku planned to end the fight before it even began.

The zenko almost let his bowels loose. He nodded automatically, then began to make for the exit.

“Oh, and _kitsune,”_ Aku called to him, and the kitsune froze, terror running his blood cold.

He turned, expecting death.

“If you had wanted a position in the Shogun of Sorrow’s employ, you did not need to have disguised yourself. It arouses suspicion.” Aku quirked a fiery brow.

The kitsune nodded, and ran straight for his destination, still holding back the combined emotions of horror, disgust, and nausea.

The only comforting thought he held as tight as that pile of papers was that surely, _surely_ this would convince the gods to tip the scales back. The demon could not get away with this.

**Author's Note:**

> When my mom was a little girl my grandpa got deployed to Athens, and while he was there he took pictures of the “big piles of rocks” for her and my grandmother....and that’s the story behind that. i miss my grandpa
> 
> also we’re going with the fact that jack’s world timeline is incomparable to ours so a lot of things and places occurred/existed when he was growing up when they should have been hundreds of years apart  
> and it all got fucked up because of aku the end
> 
> Also: u may be wondering why Set is included in the pantheon.  
> Because hell if i know; I thought aku was the “ultimate evil” in the show so why the fuck they call set an evil god I have so many questions
> 
>  
> 
> My great beta!!: [Ka Won!!](http://iwalkandtalk.tumblr.com/)


End file.
